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The Creation Myth
The Creation myth that the northerners illustrate is a long and complex one, likely reflecting their long standing culture and tradition. It is a story of cycles, and rebirth. They believe that the the material realms are held within a massive tree, called the Yggdrun, but they also believe that their realm is not on this tree. Rather, their realm was cast off from the original tree, like a seed, where it grew into a new tree, the Yggdrasil. They believe that the gods tree, the Yggdrun cast them off for a transgression, and it is why few gods interact with their Yggdrasil, and seldom intervene. Their creation myth varies from that of other races across the seas, despite sharing similar pantheons. The Timeless Winter In the time before time, in an unformed reality, all that was certain was the maelstrom, the endless chaos that created and consumed itself in a perpetual cycle of destruction. Now controlled by the wheel of time, the maelstrom falls to the order of seasons, and although the timeless winter is the time before times, and thus the time before season's, the maelstrom is the most violent in the winter, reflecting the ageless era. "Denoted on the turning wheel, is the season of winter, the original season. The cold turmoil, now tamed by the turning of the wheel, rises to a peak in the winter, a brief spell of it's old self." The Maelstrom The endless storm beyond reality and time that precursors reality and order. The driving force of entropy and creation alike. It is said that there were denizens of the maelstrom, formless shapeless beings that thrived from the entropy of the unformed. The Primordials The beings formed within the maelstrom. Given physical shape after the creation of reality, and the law and order of the universe. Little is known about these beings, and even less understood. Some primordials were given shape and form by the wheels turning, these became the elders. The Elders The first beings were created from the essence of the maelstrom and dust of the fields of creation. They were Neiyer the first soul, Vhonir the hungry wolf, Icreus the watchful hawk, Ichor the first giant, Azathoth the formless chaos, and Vis the knowledgeable. They are set apart from the primordials, as the primordials were not given a shape bound to time and reality, and had no hand in the formation of the realms. The Wheel of Time The wheel of time is the entity of which all creation rests: every existence, every future, every past, every present, and the fundamentals of reality. Upon the wheel would reside the fields of Creation, whose features would signal the change of the seasons. "When the wheel of time first started to rotate, it spun on its edge the threads of creation, weaving the threads of the great Tapestry. The storm that raged in the maelstrom around the wheel of time became intrinsically linked to its rotation. Upon each half rotation was a season that altered the nature of the great storm." "Within the maelstrom was the unmoving wheel, a monolith of certainty within the storm. The origin of the wheel is unknown, but it is the base in which time and reality were formed. In the timeless winter, when the storm had risen to its strongest the wheel shuddered and began to move. This event is known as the Vaeterok." Vaeterök In an endless storm of absolute constant, where creation and destruction happen equally and simultaneously, an event such as the Vaeterök should have been impossible. In this event, the even destruction and creation became out of balance for a brief moment, allowing the forces of creation to overpower that of destruction. It was a moment in the storm where the storm raged the hardest, nudging the great wheel into it's first rotation. The Fields of Creation At first, the wide surface of the wheel was naught but a baron desert, devoid of significant features. When the wheel started to move, the fields underwent a transformation that reflected the flow of time. In this way time and reality are linked, time forced the creation of reality, but reality reflects the creation of time. The wasteland fields became a storm of dust and ash, until mountains, valleys, and plains had all formed on the surface of the wheel. "The spires that tower over the fields of creation hold the materials to create the universe. All natural beings are comprised of at least one of these materials, and surely the world, and Yggdrun is made of these materials as well. These very pillars direct the flow of time, their position on the wheel of time would resemble a sort of clock, denoting the change of seasons and the flow of time. It would be Ichor, the first giant who would harvest the pillars and create more giants. This tampering would forever alter the flow of time." The Pillars of Eternity The spires that grew from the fields of creation. They are made quintessential elements of reality: ice, salt, and iron. The pillars denominate the passage of time on the wheel, like the markings on a clock, and are arranged in the pattern of reality. The pillars would eventually be carved and harvested by giants, forever changing the flow of time and reality. The Dark Lore Tapestry Along the edge of the wheel is the story of the universe, a story that was told, will be told, and is currently told. The tapestry depicts the course of history, and everyone and everything that will appear within reality. The true test of a gods power is the ability to read the tapestry without going mad, or be destroyed by the raw power of the universe. Ironically, it is known that the primordials Nur, Mid, and Gan do not have the ability to read the tapestry as they cannot understand time as a concept, and the tapestry will forever be by undecipherable to them, though, that wont stop them from trying. Dark ages have indeed come from Gans need to understand the meaning of the tapestry. The seasons After the great storm subsided and the wheel began to move, the first seasons were formed: Sol and Mani, or summer and winter, where the storm of the maelstrom was at its weakest and strongest respectively. When Ichor carved the pillars of eternity into the giants, the clock face was forever changed, and two new seasons were subsequently added. Solis and Mana, or spring and fall, formed the buffer between summer and winter, and winter and summer. Both Sol and Mani were poor times for life to grow, but with the arrival of Solis, life could flourish, and prepare for the winter in the fall. Before Solis and Mani, season shifts were sudden, and violent. With the new seasons, transition was gradual, and both the summer and winter became more bearable. The seasons on the material planes do not reflect those on the wheel of time. Rather, a season on the wheel of time is eons long, and reflects the cycle of the universe, with the winter being the close of life, to be reborn again in the spring. Cataclysmic events are depicted in Mani, one of many including Ragnarök, which has already occurred many times before. After the second winter, when Vhonir was done thrashing in rage, a new season was added- Mykr. Ragnarök Realm ending events that take place elusively in the winter. The first Ragnarök occurred in the second winter, when Vhonir devoured the first tree of life, and destroyed it's two realms. The second Ragnarök occurred when life dwindled in the realms of the Yggdrun, and were nearly wiped out by lightning and fire. The third Ragnarök known to have occurred was during the War of Ire. It was here that a cataclysm was nearly avoided, and the legend of the Mytheed begins. However, although this event is realm ending, and the cause of great destruction and grief, it is always followed by an Elding, a rebirth event. However, as much as Ragnarök can be a unavoidable curse, it has saved the realms. At the close of the second age, in the third winter, life had waned to only a small dull light, and the Yggdrun was to die of thirst. During this waning age, a flood nourished the tree and a lightning bolt restored life. Mykr When Ichor cut the pillars of eternity it was slow, methodical, and careful, allowing seasons to arise at even intervals. When Vhonir rampaged through the fields of time and destroyed pillars of eternity, it was not deliberate, and even random in nature. This created a new season, that is unpredictable, and can occur between any season, and can last long or short periods of time, from a century to millennia. They are dark periods were misfortune and cataclysm fall, and this season is used to describe many dark ages in history. Eldings An Elding is a first dawn of spring, and the rebirth events that follow a Ragnarök. The first Elding occurred when Vhonir devoured the first tree of life. From his body, a new tree grew one hundred times stronger, feeding off of Vhonirs essence. The second Elding to occur was during the third winter, at the waning of life. Life was restored through a nourishing flood, and a lightning bolt that restored life to the Yggdrun. The last known Elding to occur was at the end of the War of Ire, where a piece of the Yggdrun was cast off. The cast off piece became a seed for the new tree of life, Yggdrasil, where new realms and new life flourished. Yggdrun: Tree of a Thousand Realms, Godholme It took many seasons before life actually formed. The story is often told as the Epoch of Creation. After time turned, several primordials were capture by the spinning of the wheel, and shackled to the boundaries of time, and the limits of reality. Whether voluntary or not, these beings came to exist in the summer proceeding the endless winter. The beings were Neiyer the first soul, Viz the knowledgeable, Vhonir the hungry wolf, Icreus the watchful haw, Ichor the first giant, and Azathoth the formless chaos. In the first spring, Icreus drops a seed into the fields of creation, and by fall it is a small sapling bearing two realms, Hidtur and Lodtur. By the close of the first fall, the winter would begin by Vhonir devouring the sapling, and it's two realms. In the following spring, the sapling will have grown in vhonir, who rages when it finds the tree growing from within it. Vhonir rages until it tires and dies, forever altering the formations of the pillars of eternity. The seeds within Vhonir would grow into a single tightly wound ash tree, and grow stronger than before by absorbing Vhonirs nutrients. This tree would be called Yggdrun, and bear 100 realms. The empty unpopulated realms would be fought over by Neiyer and Viz. In the altercation both are destroyed, Neiyer becomes the fragments that inhabit the realms, while Viz becomes the stars in the sky. Neiyer's three largest shards become the three herald Primordials of life, Mid Gan and Nur, while the smaller shards become reigning gods and deities, while the countless smallest flecks of shards become the mortal souls. By the close of the next fall, the lights of mortals and deities will wane, and the realms will become empty as life fades. However, in the winter the tree is struck by a lightning bolt that invigorates the realms, the embers and sparks becoming the new mortal souls, and the flame becomes everlasting. The realms become inhabited again. The River Styx When the realm flooded the water pooled and gathered around the base of the tree. The flood so great that the river flowed off of the wheel of time, making it timeless and endless. God's of death, and other beings use the timeless river to their advantage. Souls are often carried from the realms of the living to their afterlife's on this river. The Eternal Flame The lightning that struck Yggdrun, nearly destroyed the tree. The power so great, that it erased several of the already fading and dying realms. The flame itself became eternal, and it is the source in which new life can grow, both deities and mortals. Yggdrasil: The Tree of Life, and the legend of the Mytheed There exists another type of soul, that also came from Neiyers destruction. Between the souls of mortals and deities, there is a soul called a hero soul. These souls linger between in between the power of mortals and gods. Although the body of the spirit dies, the soul does not flicker and die out, it is instead reincarnated again and again many times until it finally sputters out and dies. These souls lasted until the fourth winter when nearly all life was extinguished. These souls were reinvigorated by the eternal fire. Upon this moment, one rose from the ashes. A lord of fire and cinder, an enraged spirit angered by it’s endless cycle of death and rebirth. The soul died many times, but remembered each life, and became a being to be reckoned with. After 1000 lifetimes it attained Sen, a godlike state of mind in which it could manipulate time and reality like other gods. Within the many realms of the Yggdrun he sparked chaos and war, to spite deities and gods. He created a war so great, that the realm in which he resided threatened collapse and spread of foul magic into the Yggdrun, endangering the whole tree. Indeed, winter was coming, and many gods feared that this angry soul would cause the next Ragnarök. In this time, the gods gathered and trapped him in the realm he resided. Then they tore his prison from the ground in which he was shackled, and cast it into the void, beyond the wheel of time. This massive chunk of land became the mytheed. The inhabitants of the land lived in torment and agony in this timeless place, forever punished like the one in the prison beneath their feet. When the deity threatened to rise again, he was defeated, and the mytheed fed on his corpse, drawing power from him and allowing a new tree to grow. This tree became known as Yggdrasil, the tree of life, and grew twelve realms. However the realms were baron and the current mortals already fading, as they didn't have the same eternal flame that the Yggdrun had. A well of light was constructed at the base of Yggdrasil, and life was bestowed to the realms, restoring the fading souls. The river styx flowed beneath the tree, connecting the Yggrun and the Yggrasil together. Deities would traverse the river styx to take up residence in some of the new realms, while others would sail the river and attempt to plant a new mytheed of their own, but legend say none have succeeded.